Page 61 of Heart of the Deep

Dracchus folded his arms across his broad chest released a slow breath. “For the kraken, it has been survival. For generations, that is all we’ve known.”

“That’s not so different from us,” she said, facing him. “Humans have had to work hard every day since the colonization to carve out our place on this world. We just have the tools and experience to make our survival more efficient. But even when things are rough, we take time to enjoy life.”

“So I have seen since our humans came,” Dracchus said.

The tone with which he’d said that —our humans— was so affectionately possessive that Larkin couldn’t help but smile. Whatever their differences, Dracchus had accepted the humans in the Facility as his people. Would it really be so bad to be part of that?

To be his mate?

Larkin fought a shiver as she recalled what he’d done to her last evening. She’d stood in the shower for at least half an hour afterwards before her body finally came down from the heights of pleasure to which he’d raised her. Even then, it hadn’t been enough. She’d craved more.

She’d wantedhim.

This isn’t about what I want. It’s about what I can’t give him.

Her smile fell, and she cleared her throat. Better not to think about it. She forced her thoughts elsewhere, focusing on the tour Dracchus was giving her.

She’d seen more rooms than she knew what to do with, and she’d had few good guesses as to what most of them were for. Before they’d gone anywhere else, he’d taken her to a small chamber that had once been some sort of office, where he’d opened a hidden panel on the wall to reveal an assortment of rifles, harpoon guns, pistols, knives, all neatly stored. At least ten diving suits lay on the shelf below with their accompanying masks.

He’d shown her the button to open the panel, handed her a belt, and directed her to take a blade and a pistol. The trust he’d shown her in that moment was almost flooring, and the quality of the weapons — theircondition— was astounding.

“So we’ve seen offices, labs, an infirmary that puts the one at Fort Culver to shame, the mess hall and the kitchen, a room full of functioning computers, and this place.” She looked back into the pool and narrowed her eyes; its walls were lined with windows all the way around. “What was this place used for anyway? This building is surrounded by water.”

“To train human divers and test their devices.” Dracchus turned his head to look at her. “The open ocean was too dangerous for those functions. This was a…” His brow dropped as though in deep concentration. Larkin found it endearing. “Controlled environment. They tested their suits and equipment near bits of halorium. Arkon said it was to learn how to prevent halorium from disrupting theirelectronics.”

“What is halorium?”

He looked at the pool and raised his arm, extending a finger. “In the center.”

Larkin followed his gesture, shifting her gaze to the pattern on the floor of the pool. She wasn’t sure what he intended for her to find — all the stones were small and only varied slightly in color — until her eyes caught on the middle of the design. The center stone no bigger than any of the rest, but where the others were smooth and rounded, this had sharp, crystal-like planes. It glowed a steady, soft blue; the same glow she’d often seen from jungle plants after dark.

The same glow Dracchus had emitted.

“That rock?” she asked.

“Yes. It makes old human machinery fail when it is near.”

“Why did they want it, then?”

“Because it holds great power. It is what has kept the Facility alive for all this time.”

“Krullshit,” she said, looking back to Dracchus. “That little thing?”

“Notthatone. There is a… I cannot recall the word Arkon used. Some machine at the heart of this place, in the Underneath, that harnesses the energy in halorium. It is why the kraken were created.”

Larkin arched a brow. “Humans created you…for that?”

“Halorium is safe to touch,” he said with a frown, “but it turns off the diving suits when they are too close. My kind can collect it safely. Yours cannot.”

“So, what happened?”

“The kraken were treated like slaves by the humans here. We were not people to them. So my ancestors rose up and seized the Facility by force.” His frown deepened, but there was no apology in his expression. “They killed all the humans and claimed this place as their own.”

“How was it no one on land knew about you?” Larkin shook her head, unable to wrap her mind around it. “Fort Culver was the central command for the military on Halora. Theyhadto know. They had communications everywhe—”

Realization silenced her abruptly. Though the records were difficult to access now, and most of the computers back home had long since failed, all the rangers knew the final order issued to all military personnel. It was what had defined their mission over the subsequent generations.

Hold the line against anything that might come. Defend the colonists to the last man.

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